Hunting sea urchins in the Pacific Ocean, peak bagging in the Bernese Alps, and an epic crash on the slopes of the Red Bull Homerun

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Rider Oe Nagan takes us along as he adventures into the heart of Cairngorms National Park in Scotland.
Photo: Sam Flanagan

We scour the web each week to bring you the best outdoor videos we can find. Here are our top picks of the week:

The Crash That Will Haunt the Red Bull Homerun Forever

Red Bull Homerun is an annual downhill race hosted in Åre, Sweden, with 500 skiers and snowboarders, and this year it proved to be the recipe for disaster. It only took one to crash on the cat track to create a pile-up like we've never seen before. It's the yard sale to end all yard sales, leaving skis, boards, poles, and people scattered on the slope. We can only hope that these guys found solace in the after-ski party waiting for them at the base. Snowboarder Joel Bengs shared this clip of the crash and put together a longer edit of the race here.

The Bone-Chilling Science of Surfing on Lake Superior

"The worse the weather, the better the waves." With that wild approach, surfers Alex Gray and Alex Brost chased a low-pressure system across the Midwest to the shores of Lake Superior, where icy swells spiraled, tempting any surfer brave enough to tolerate the cold. Superior Surf is a film by PranaLens about the science and thrill of catching those waves. You can follow PranaLens on Facebook here and on Instagram here.

Hunting Sea Urchins with Jeff Maassen

Jeff Maassen began harvesting sea urchins from the waters surrounding the Channel Islands of Santa Barbara, California, more than three decades ago, and if he has his way, he'll never stop. With the ocean as his office, Maassen encounters endless adventures, from dodging sharks to navigating stormy weather, all the while hunting down delicious shellfish. Maassen's son, filmmaker Morgan Maassen, followed his father for a day and created this inspiring film, The Urchin Hunter,with support from Yeti Coolers. You can follow Morgan on Facebook here and on Instagram here.

What It's Like to Climb a Mountain for the First Time

Petra Winkes lives in a small town in Holland—far from the mountains that she always dreamed of climbing. In June of 2015, she joined a Gore-Tex Experience Tour (an ongoing project that brings together young outdoor enthusiasts with seasoned professionals) and set off to summit the Balmhorn, a large peak in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. This short film from ATLAS follows Winkes as she attempts to climb a mountain for the first time.

Riding the Continental Divide Trail in Montana

In July of 2015, pro mountain biker Mike Hopkins and a crew from Freehub set out to ride a 26-mile section of Montana's Continental Divide Trail. The five-man, bike-powered expedition passed Montana’s Lewis and Clark Pass on July 7th—209 years to the day after Meriwether Lewis crossed it on his journey back east. It was a fitting coincidence given that the modern day adventurers came to know, however briefly, what it was like to be an early explorer, experiencing horrific weather conditions and every kind of terrain imaginable on the trail. The expedition is featured in Freehub Issue 6.4.

When Mountaineering Meets Mountain Biking

This short film by Trippin convinced us that packing mountaineering and mountain biking into a single day is the making of a perfect day. Rider Oe Nagan takes us along as he goes into the heart of Cairngorms National Park in Scotland. With his bike strapped to his back, Nagan climbs to the summit of a snow covered mountain, reassembles his bike, and then plunges downhill, pioneering gullies and ripping across exposed ridges. You can follow more of Trippin's work on Facebook here and Instagram here.

This Woman Ran Across Seven Deserts

7 Deserts is a video series from The African Attachment that follows ultrarunner Mina Guli as she runs 40 marathons across seven deserts on seven continents in seven weeks. Her goal: to raise awareness about global water shortages and the urgent need for us to reduce our water consumption. The first leg of the project kicked off in the Tabernas Desert of Spain, which lies within the province of Almería, the driest region of Europe. You can follow The African Attachment on Facebook here and on Instagram here.

Take a 120-Second Break to Boost Your Happiness

At some point during your work day, productivity starts to lag, and you need a break. We get it, and that's why our ongoing Weekly Escape series transports you from your desk to an incredible place in two minutes or less. This week we go to the Drakensberg Escarpment of South Africa with photographer Alex Nail, who captured this footage while on a 9-day unsupported hike through this unbelievable wilderness. Boasting colossal cliffs, jagged ridges, and the world’s second highest waterfall, Tugela, the beauty of the escarpment will get you through the day. You can follow Nail on Facebook here.

Watch David Wise Break a Ski World Record

The organizers of Suzuki Nine Knights built a gigantic hip jump (essentially a pyramid with a flat top) with five take-offs and a plethora of landing options. For the world's best hip and transition riders, the course proved to be the perfect playground as they pushed the limits of possibility higher with each jump. By the Public Contest Day of the competition, riders reached jaw-dropping heights with skier David Wise, an Olympic gold medalist, ultimately hitting 14.2 meters, an astounding three meters higher than the existing record for highest ski air on a hip.

North Shore Riding At Its Best

Hikers and mountain bikers don't always see eye-to-eye on the trails (check out ourProper Mountain Biking Trail Etiquette here), but one thing they can certainly agree on is that trail use is a privilege, and the people who work to build and maintain the trails deserve universal kudos. Wildland Media produced this video, featuring local ripper Bart Moore, as a way to say thanks to the North Shore Mountain Bike Association for preserving the trails in the North Shore mountains of British Columbia, Canada.

Iceland Is an Adventurer's Paradise

When filmmaker Rodrigue El Hajj told us that he captured the footage for this short film while traveling for eight days in Iceland, we didn't believe him—it's impossible that anyone could see so much of a country in such a short amount of time. Then again, it's Iceland, where adventure is infinite, and beauty is everywhere. As Hajj wrote, "It's like the whole island is alive, breathing." You can follow more of Hajj's work here and on Instagram here.